Home Security Guide
How to Secure a Front Door From Being Kicked In
A front door that gets kicked in almost never fails at the lock. It fails at the frame: the bolt tears through a thin strip of wood held by two short screws. To secure the door, fit a deadbolt with a full one-inch bolt, replace the small strike plate with a reinforced one fastened by three-inch screws into the wall stud, and put one long screw through each hinge. Here is how to check your own door in five minutes, what each fix does, and where a locksmith earns the visit.
Most people who worry about a break-in think about the lock: is it pick resistant, is it a good brand. Burglars who force a front door rarely pick anything. They kick it or shoulder it, and the door opens because the wood around the lock gives way. That is good news, because the fix is mostly screws, steel plates and a correctly fitted deadbolt, not an expensive lock.
Where a Kicked Door Actually Fails
When a deadbolt is locked, the bolt sits in a hole in the door jamb, behind a small metal strike plate. On most houses that plate is fastened with two screws about three quarters of an inch long. Those screws only reach the jamb, a board roughly as thick as your finger, and the jamb is often soft pine. Behind it there is usually a gap, then the wall stud that actually holds the house up.
A hard kick next to the lock puts all of that force on the edge of the jamb. The lock holds. The bolt holds. The jamb splits along the grain, the strike plate tears out with its two little screws, and the door swings in with the deadbolt still extended. If you have ever seen a forced door, this is what you saw: a long splinter of wood missing from the frame at lock height.
So the goal is simple. Tie the strike side, the hinge side and the lock itself back to the solid framing of the house, so a kick has to move the wall and not just a strip of trim.
Why Westchester Homeowners Are Asking Now
Two things put this question in front of people in mid-October. The first is local. The Scarsdale police report published by Scarsdale10583 on September 10, 2026 lists a Jefferson Road house entered on September 6 with the front door broken and the house gone through. The same report lists a Montgomery Road house that was gone through on the same day with no sign of forced entry, and the following week's report describes a Pinecrest Road resident who came back from vacation to find the house burglarized. Front doors and empty houses, in other words.
The second is the calendar. Clocks go back on Sunday, November 1, and from then on it is dark here before 5 p.m., while most houses are still empty from the workday. A dark porch and an empty driveway are when a front door gets tested. The weeks before the clocks change are the right time to look at the door, while it is still light enough after work to do it.
The Five-Minute Check
You can learn most of what matters with a screwdriver and a flashlight.
- Lock the deadbolt with the door open and measure the bolt. It should stick out a full inch. Older and bargain deadbolts often throw only half an inch.
- Close the door and lock it. The thumbturn should turn all the way without forcing. If you have to pull or lift the door to lock it, the bolt is probably not extending fully, and a bolt that is only partly out can be pushed back.
- Take one screw out of the strike plate. If it is under an inch long, the plate is only holding to the jamb.
- Take one screw out of the top hinge, on the frame side. Same test. Short screws mean the hinge side is only held by the jamb as well.
- Look at the jamb around the strike. Cracks, old filler, or a strike that has been moved once or twice mean the wood is already weakened.
- Knock on the door. A hollow sound on an exterior door means a light door that can break around the lock no matter how good the frame is.
- Check the gap. If you can see a lot of the bolt between the door and the frame, there is room for a pry bar.
Reinforce the Strike Side
This is the fix that changes the most for the least work.
- Swap the strike plate for a reinforced or box strike. A heavy-gauge plate with four screw holes spreads the load, and a box strike adds a steel pocket around the bolt.
- Use three-inch screws. They pass through the jamb and the gap behind it and bite into the wall stud. Drill pilot holes, angle the screws slightly toward the stud, and do not overtighten, or you will pull the jamb out of line and the door will start to bind.
- Consider a full-length jamb reinforcement. On a door that has been forced before, or a jamb that is cracked, a long steel plate that runs up the lock side of the frame ties a few feet of jamb to the framing at once. It also covers old damage.
- Add a door reinforcer around the lock. A steel wrap on the edge of the door stops the door itself from splitting at the bolt, which is the next thing to fail once the frame is strong.
On many prewar houses in Scarsdale, Bronxville and Pelham, the original frame is solid old-growth wood and stronger than new pine, but the strike is still a thin brass plate with short screws, and decades of lock changes have left extra holes behind it. Those doors usually respond very well to a properly fitted strike. Homes with original mortise locks need a different approach, which we cover in our guide to home security for historic houses.
Get the Deadbolt Right
The frame does the heavy lifting, but the deadbolt still has to be the right one and fitted correctly.
- One-inch throw. Anything shorter does not reach far enough into a reinforced strike.
- A grade you can trust. Residential deadbolts are rated by ANSI/BHMA. Grade 1 is the strongest and Grade 2 is a solid choice for a house. Unrated hardware is where short bolts and soft parts show up.
- A fully extended bolt. Most deadbolts only lock the bolt in place once it is all the way out. If the hole in the jamb is too shallow or out of line, the bolt stops short and the lock is far weaker than it looks. This is common after a house settles or a door swells.
- A spring latch is not security. The latch on the knob or lever only keeps the door closed. If the deadbolt is not thrown, the door is not locked in any way that matters.
If the deadbolt has become stiff or will not turn all the way, fix that first. Our guide to a deadbolt that sticks or binds explains how to tell an alignment problem from a worn lock.
Do Not Forget the Hinges
Once the lock side is strong, a kick can break the hinge side instead. Replace at least one screw in each hinge, on the frame side, with a three-inch screw into the stud. Use the hole nearest the center of the frame so the screw lands in solid wood.
If your door opens outward, the hinge pins are on the outside. Fit hinges with security studs or non-removable pins so the door cannot be lifted off after the pins are pulled.
The Door, Sidelights and Double Doors
- The door itself. An exterior door should be solid wood, solid core, fiberglass or steel. A hollow door, or an old paneled door with thin panels, can be broken through regardless of the lock.
- Glass within reach of the lock. If a sidelight or door glass sits within arm's reach of the thumbturn, breaking the glass defeats the deadbolt. Security film or laminated glass is usually a better answer than a deadbolt that needs a key on the inside, which can trap people in a fire and is restricted in many buildings. Ask before fitting one.
- Double and French doors. The deadbolt on the active door locks into the other door, so the pair is only as strong as the bolts holding the fixed door at the top and bottom. Those bolts should be steel, should reach well into the frame and the threshold, and should actually be thrown.
- Side and back doors. A door that faces a fence or a hedge is easier to work on unseen than the front door. Give it the same strike, screws and deadbolt.
None of this helps if the door is left unlocked. One of the houses in the Scarsdale report showed no forced entry at all. Throw the deadbolt every time, including when you are home.
Apartments and Steel Frames
Apartment doors in Yonkers, White Plains and New Rochelle are usually steel or solid-core doors in steel frames, so the frame does not split the way wood does. The weak points there are different: a worn cylinder, a bolt that no longer lines up, or a gap at the latch that invites prying. A latch guard and a quality deadbolt or cylinder do more on these doors than longer screws. If you rent, check your lease before changing anything, and see our guide on who can change the locks in a New York rental.
When It Is a Locksmith Call
Long screws and a better strike plate are a reasonable weekend job. Call a professional when any of these is true:
- The jamb is cracked, has been forced before, or has been patched with filler
- The deadbolt does not extend fully, or the door has to be lifted or pulled to lock
- The door is hollow, split around the lock, or has glass next to the thumbturn
- You have an old mortise lock, a double door, or a door that opens outward
- You want a higher-grade deadbolt fitted and the door and frame prepared for it
- The door has already been kicked in and needs to be secured and then repaired properly
Alpha Locks and Safe fits deadbolts, reinforced strikes, door reinforcers and jamb reinforcement for homes across Westchester County. On a visit we check how far the bolt throws and whether it extends fully, what the strike and hinges are fastened to, and the condition of the door and frame, then tell you plainly which parts are worth doing. That work is part of our residential lock installation and repair service.
Front door already forced?
Call +1 (914) 875‑1894 during business hours and tell us what happened to the door: split frame, broken lock, or a door that will not close. Our break-in repair service secures the door first, then repairs and reinforces the frame so it is stronger than it was.
Front Door Reinforcement Across Westchester County
Alpha Locks and Safe installs deadbolts and reinforces front doors for homeowners across Westchester County, from Scarsdale, White Plains and Elmsford to Yonkers, New Rochelle and Tarrytown.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to secure a door from being kicked in?
Reinforce the frame. Fit a heavy strike plate with three-inch screws into the wall stud, use a deadbolt with a one-inch bolt, and put a three-inch screw through each hinge. Those three steps address the way most kicked doors fail.
Do three-inch screws really make a difference?
Yes. Short screws only hold the strike plate to the thin door jamb, which splits under a kick. Three-inch screws reach the stud behind it, so the force goes into the framing of the house.
Will a better deadbolt stop a kick-in on its own?
Not on its own. A strong deadbolt in a weak frame still tears out of the jamb. The lock and the frame have to be upgraded together.
Is a door bar or floor brace worth having?
It adds resistance while you are home, and it is useful for renters who cannot change hardware. It does nothing when the house is empty, because it can only be set from inside.
Should I use a deadbolt that needs a key on the inside if I have glass by the door?
Be careful with that. A keyed inside cylinder can slow your exit in a fire and is not allowed in many buildings. Security film or laminated glass on the sidelight usually solves the same problem more safely.